


With Rain Outside

by pencilguin



Series: The Other Mes Live With What They've Got [3]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Cuddling & Snuggling, First Kiss, Homelessness, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 11:29:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18659542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pencilguin/pseuds/pencilguin
Summary: Paul and Justin pick up a lost fellow teenager named Hugh; they give him something to eat at the diner where they’re currently working the late shift and listen to his story. He doesn’t have anywhere to go, and the weather forecast for the night is looking grim, so they find a place for him to stay for now.





	With Rain Outside

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt from @nerdqueenenterprise, set in an AU we talked about (inspired by that one arc in MSCL and Wilson Cruz's own past). Unbeta'd, so as usual, sorry for any mistakes. 
> 
> Content warning: mentions of homophobia, homeless LGBTQ teens.

Paul watched the young man—teenager, really, because even though he said he was seventeen and Paul believed him, he looked even younger, much too young to be out on the street all by himself like this—while he gulped down the free meal and hot chocolate they had given him. Listened to everything Hugh was telling them, about how his parents had found out that their son was gay, what a fight had ensued, his father’s tantrum, his mother’s screaming, the ultimatum, the tears, the way he had grabbed his backpack and ran out the door, into the lonely night. He had to swallow hard and take a few deep breaths as the entire story played out in his mind. He had never seen the boy’s parents in his life as far as he knew, but it reminded him vividly of his own experience. The faces and stories of Hugh and his family blended into those of Paul’s; a story he had heard retold far too often with few variations in the last two years since he had left his old home and found a new community in the shelter for LGBTQ youths. Unfortunately, he also knew that they were already stuffed to the brim with more homeless kids than they could take care of, and that the weather forecast for the night was even grimmer than what was already unfolding outside.

“Do you have a place to stay tonight?” he asked Hugh into the silence of the diner, where their late shift was almost over, empty except for the three of them. He already knew the answer.

“Not yet,” he said, and Paul could see the way he was trying to downplay his own fear. “But I’ll figure something out. I usually do.”

After a brief, wordless exchange of looks with Justin, he responded, “You can stay with me. If you like.”

“My family has a garden plot nearby with a little shack on it,” Justin added. “Paul’s been staying there for some time.”

Hugh looked back and forth between them, seemingly unsure what to say.

“We’d have to share the couch,” Paul said. “Please don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not usually this … straightforward. But I can’t leave you out there on your own in a storm like this.”

“Thank you,” Hugh said quietly, but with a smile.

 

***

 

Once they’d hurried inside, drenched in rain and dripping all over the wooden floor tiles and the small, old rug, Paul locked the door behind them. Next to him, Hugh was shivering slightly, probably just as drenched to the bone as he was. He switched on the floor lamp in the corner and then plugged in the small radiator standing in the middle of the room.

“This should warm up the place soon-ish. Do you have any spare clothes in your backpack that might still be dry?”

“I doubt it,” Hugh said with a nervous little laugh. “But anything in there’s gonna be better than what I’m wearing right now.”

“Good.” Paul smiled. He pointed at the door in the far corner, where some space had been carved out of the singular main room of the shack. “There’s a tiny bathroom over there where you can change. We’ll hang the wet clothes up to dry over night.”

While Hugh was in the bathroom he changed into his pajamas and threw his own soaked clothes over a chair near the radiator, then gathered all the extra pillows and blankets he could find to make the couch-slash-daybed more comfortable and warm enough. Outside, the rain was drumming against the windows louder than ever in the dark. He dimmed the lamp; the curtains on the small windows were simple, thin fabric and he didn’t want to draw too much attention to the fact that someone was currently living in here.

Hugh emerged from the bathroom, holding the bundle of his wet clothes in one hand and his backpack in the other. He only appeared to have put on boxers and a simple, loosely-fitting t-shirt. Paul frowned; not only because he worried about Hugh probably being cold at night dressed like this but also because, while he didn’t technically look _too_ skinny yet, there already was a certain air of malnutrition around him. He hadn’t told them for how long he had been out on the street. Paul guessed at least a few weeks.

He briefly disappeared into the bathroom as well, brushed his teeth and dried his hair, and when he returned, Hugh had put his clothes next to Paul’s and settled down on the bed. Paul switched off the light and climbed in beside him. Hugh scooted over a little but their shoulders still almost touched. Awkward.

“Good night,” Paul muttered into the silence.

“Good night,” Hugh responded quietly.

The rain kept drumming on, and normally, despite its ferocity, the sound might have been soothing. Except Paul was hyperaware of the presence of the other person lying next to him. It wasn’t a situation he was really used to in the first place, and it also didn’t help that he was still very queer and that Hugh was really, really cute. He wondered what Hugh thought of him, if he might also be interested in Paul. Then he tried to shake off the thought because Hugh was in really big trouble at the moment and any move would feel like taking advantage of him.

Hugh kept shuffling. They were only small movements, but in the silence of the shack they sounded loud like rolling thunder. He also seemed to curl up more and more, and his breath hitched occasionally. Paul could almost hear him shiver.

“Are you cold?” he asked into the dark room.

Hugh pulled the blanket around himself a little tighter.

“Yeah …”

“Don’t you have any other clothes in your backpack?”

“No,” Hugh muttered. “Everything else is almost as soaked as the ones I was wearing.”

“Do you want some of my warmer clothes?”

“To be honest, I …” He hesitated. “I just kinda really want a hug right now.”

Paul’s heart skipped a beat, while his brain struggled to come up with a response.

“Oh. Um … well. I mean, if you want?”

His eyes had adjusted to the darkness well enough by now to make out Hugh smiling nervously at him.

“Yes,” Hugh answered, his voice little more than a whisper, and Paul’s cheeks started burning.

He lifted the blankets on his side and opened his arms, and Hugh scooted over and pressed his body against Paul’s, shuffled around clumsily for a bit to put his arms around his middle while Paul likewise wrapped his own around Hugh. Gosh, he really was a human icicle, and the points of contact between both of their skin felt freezing cold, although the touch still made Paul’s nerve ends tingle. He wiggled a bit to bury the two of them deeper into the blankets.

“Thank you,” Hugh mumbled against his left collarbone.

“No problem.”

“You’re very warm.”

“You’re very cold.”

“I know.”

While Paul could still feel Hugh’s heart beating just as fast as his own, his breath steadied, and gradually, he stopped shivering. As his thoughts wandered, wondering what Hugh might have gone through after he had been kicked out of his parents’ house, he absent-mindedly started rubbing circles into Hugh’s back with his thumb. Hugh didn’t comment on it.

“Paul?”

“Hm?”

“You’re the nicest person I’ve met since I left home.”

“Umm… Thanks, I guess. Although I’m sorry to hear that.”

“You and Justin both. But especially you. You’re kind and friendly and you offered your help, and you didn’t ask for any payment or compensation.”

“Wha—of course I didn’t! Were you expecting me to?”

“Most people do,” Hugh said quietly. His head was still lowered, so Paul couldn’t see his face. Even more quietly he added, “And I don’t have any money.”

“You …” Paul couldn’t continue. He was suddenly feeling sick. He instinctively squeezed Hugh a little tighter, as if this way he could protect him from anything bad ever happening to him again. “Hugh,” he said assertively, “you can stay here as long as you need. I’ll try all I can do to help you. You’re not going back … out there.”

Hugh tilted his head up now to look at him, eyes wide in the near-complete dark. Big and soft and warm and cute and surprised and hopeful. He smiled.

“Thank you, Paul.”

Then he started to look flustered and buried his face in Paul’s chest again. Paul resumed the circular thumb movements against his right shoulder blade.

“Well, I mean … I guess it would be nice if you could help out with stuff like cleaning and all, you know, if we’re going to share the place, but aside from that you don’t need to give me anything.”

“Of course, sure.” He giggled a little, and it was the most beautiful sound that Paul had ever heard. “I can do that.”

He snuggled up even closer, significantly warmer and no longer shivering now. They both remained silent, taking deep, even breaths with the rhythm of the rain and storm outside. Paul took in the scent of his soft, still wet curls, amazed at how comforting this felt to himself as well as it seemed to Hugh.

“Um… by the way,” Hugh began after a while. “I hope this isn’t weird for you. Or uncomfortable or something.”

“No—not at all. It’s … it’s really nice, actually.”

“Good.” He could hear the smile in Hugh’s voice. “I really like it, too. It’s … comfy. And you’re very warm. And … and also really cute.”

Paul’s breath hitched and his heart made a leap.

“I—thanks … umm … You too, you know.”

“Hmmm…” Hugh hummed happily, burying his face deeper into his shoulder. “Good night, Paul.”

“Good night to you, too, Hugh.”

The storm kept raging on outside, but here within their little bubble they were safe.

 

***

 

Hugh reluctantly peeled his eyes open in the dimly lit room. He was still far too tired, just like he’d always been these days, and the light was bleak and gray. He was about to internally curse the entire universe for existing in the first place when his eyes fell on something that immediately compensated him for having woken up.

Paul. His face was close enough to count his pores, or his nearly translucent eyelashes … and what a nice face it was. Hugh smiled gently at the slightly flaring nostrils making the tiniest snoring noises with every steady breath, more like the purring of a cat, and just as soothing to his ears. At the occasional slight twitch of his pale eyebrows and the faintest stubble on his cheeks. His features still looked soft and young, but gosh, what an amazing bone structure he had. Hugh tried to imagine what Paul’s face might look like ten, twenty, thirty years from now. He kind of really wanted to find out.

It took a lot of self-restraint not to give in to the impulse to press his lips against Paul’s. He should probably get consent for that first, and maybe, if he was lucky, Paul would actually prefer to be awake for that as well. So he just snuggled up a little closer instead and squeezed his eyes shut again.

The storm hadn’t died down over night, actually, which also explained the depressing lighting inside the garden shack. The abundance of blankets and pillows in combination with the little radiator had done their share in sufficiently warming up the room, so despite being in little more than his underwear in a room with fairly thin wooden walls, Hugh was feeling positively toasty and comfortable. He noticed that their legs were entangled a little more now than they had been when he fell asleep, and that he was half resting on top of Paul’s chest now. Paul’s arms around him were still holding him safely and his body was radiating warmth and comfort. Hugh enjoyed his scent and the feeling of his heartbeat against his own chest.

This must be why he was feeling so much calmer and more at ease right now than he had in weeks. The little shack with the old daybed felt like a home because Paul was here. Hugh was still amazed by his kindness. All evening he had spent waiting for a catch, a condition, because all of this had sounded much too good to be true. At least for this one night, his anxiety about the future and everything had been put to rest.

He decided to wait in silence for Paul to wake up, although eventually he started humming quietly to himself.

“I like that song,” Paul muttered, startling him.

Hugh smiled.

“Good morning.”

“It really is.”

“Did the storm calm down?”

“No.”

“Then what’s good about it?” Paul asked, finally squinting his eyes open. It took a lot for Hugh not to “aww!” at him.

“You.”

Paul chuckled.

“Me? How so?”

“You’re here. You’re very comfy.”

“You’re welcome.”

Hugh sighed happily.

“I’d like to wake up in your arms every morning.”

“That’s gay.”

“It’s the truth.”

Paul’s cheeks turned pink as he smiled at him, eyes still squinty, funny bed hair, and pillow crease imprints on the side of his face.

“For the record, I approve of the gay.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Not that it would need any approval.”

“I’d still like yours, though.” Hugh grinned up at him a little nervously. “I … I’d really like to kiss you, Paul.”

The surprise on Paul’s face at his words was delightful, his eyes widening and his cheeks and ears turning even redder.

“I … um … yes, I’d … I would like that, too. Very much.”

They both smiled shyly at each other for a few more seconds, until Hugh finally gathered up his courage to take the first step, and leaned his head forward. Paul crossed the remaining distance between them until his lips met Hugh’s; thin but soft and warm and really perfect.

When they parted, Hugh immediately missed the contact. Still, he slowly opened his eyes and saw Paul doing the same, his face still really, really close and their noses almost touching.

“That was … wow,” Paul whispered.

“Yes,” Hugh whispered back. _Would you like to be my boyfriend?_ he wanted to ask. But instead he just said, “Do we have to leave the bed? I’d like to stay here forever.”

Paul giggled quietly. “I’m afraid ‘forever’ might get a little tricky. But I don’t have work today so I guess we can stay for a while.” His hand slid up from Hugh’s back and started lightly rubbing the nape of his neck, sending pleasant shivers down his spine.

“I think I can live with that for now,” Hugh responded, and then leaned in to kiss Paul again.


End file.
